Is Our Children’s Screen Time One of the Hottest Topics Of This Era?

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

A client was searching for a writer who is a parent to write for them about children’s screen time. I was commissioned to write a sample post. They wanted the post to be friendly and engaging and factual but not laden with research. (My initial more serious paragraphs clarified that for the client.) Most of all they wanted something real.

I dipped into Anya Kamenetz’s book, The Art of Screen Time, How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media & Real Time and found it was practical and not neurotic.
The mother of two children raised in the Internet era, I have grappled with the issues and ethics of screen time for the kids, and for me.

This is how my article started:

If You Have a Question About Screen Time, Ask A Kid

If I have a question that’s teen-related I ask Amy*. No, not that Amy. We’ve got our own Amy at home.
She’s my straight-talking source if I catch her at the right moment.
As a parent, and even as a person, of the 21st century, one of the greatest challenges of our times is screen time. ‘Tell me about it,’ sighs every parent to whom I say those words.
l frequently warn Amy to get off her screen ready to sleep, and yet realized the other day, I’ve never asked her what she thinks about screen time.

Veteran Reporter Fails To Interview Own Daughter. Shock!

Luckily, Amy was in the mood to speak and I seized the moment. 
‘Is screen time an issue at school?’ I asked.
Her answer surprised me…

That’s just a taste.

Outcome: I enjoyed writing the story and it stirred my interest in writing more about the topic.
The client loved the story, and said it captured the tone they were after and looks forward to starting working together in the not too distant future :).

If you’d like to see how an international journalist would cover your content, seriously or chattily, write to me today.

Marian Edmunds
Copywriter, Writing Mentor & Highly-Experienced Journalist & Editor

Notes
*Anya Kamenetz’s The Art of Screen Time, How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media & Real Time.

*Some names may be omitted or altered for privacy, another big issue of our times.